Pex discoloration?

[Mgmny]

Anyone know why my pex is turning yellow/green? The house is only 5 months old. Internet searches said it could be from algae, but my builder says algae would be causing a foul odor in my water and the discoloration wouldn't be so even. They "think" (no one has looked at it, just sent a photo to them so far) it is sediment buildup reacting with each other in the warm water and leaving a film on my pex, but again, the house is only 5 months old... typically i would think this type of sediment issue would take years to be an issue...

[lthenderson]

I've heard before that certain brands of Pex will turn a shade of green depending on the water quality/mineral content inside them. Brown is another shade I've heard about too. Nothing to worry about though. It has always been that way but now with clear piping, you can now see it happening.

[Mgmny]

Thanks LThenderson. I know you said not to worry about it, but it feels worrisome that my water is yellow? I mean, it's not yellow coming out of the taps. but obviously it has some type of content that is causing it to turn colors. Should I get it tested? install filters?

Also, I'm sorry about the massive photo... not sure how to change that.

[lthenderson]

I would guess yellowish probably indicates iron which is fairly common. If you've ever cut open a water pipe in an old house and it was house full of sediment, you know what you are seeing now in the PEX.

If you have city water, most municipalities are required by law to release testing results on water quality once a year. You can drop in at your local office and probably request a copy at any time. If you have well water, many states have extension offices where you can get water tests done for a nominal fee. Back when we were on well water, we did this periodically just to ensure the water quality was acceptable and those tests were a large reason why we ended up paying to have water piped into the farm versus well water. City water however is required to meet certain limits so is generally much safer with rare occasions like Flint, Michigan excepted.

For about the last decade, we've always had a refrigerator that dispensed cold water and which has a filter so we get all our drinking water through that. I wouldn't put a lot of faith in those filters other than to remove some minerals for taste purposes. It would probably remove any iron particles or particles that you are now seeing in your pipes causing the discoloration. It probably isn't worth the expense however to put filters on the incoming water line or feeder lines so you would still see discoloration and eventually some sedimentation in your PEX lines.

[BudgetSlasher]

I would guess yellowish probably indicates iron which is fairly common. If you've ever cut open a water pipe in an old house and it was house full of sediment, you know what you are seeing now in the PEX.

If you have city water, most municipalities are required by law to release testing results on water quality once a year. You can drop in at your local office and probably request a copy at any time. If you have well water, many states have extension offices where you can get water tests done for a nominal fee. Back when we were on well water, we did this periodically just to ensure the water quality was acceptable and those tests were a large reason why we ended up paying to have water piped into the farm versus well water. City water however is required to meet certain limits so is generally much safer with rare occasions like Flint, Michigan excepted.

For about the last decade, we've always had a refrigerator that dispensed cold water and which has a filter so we get all our drinking water through that. I wouldn't put a lot of faith in those filters other than to remove some minerals for taste purposes. It would probably remove any iron particles or particles that you are now seeing in your pipes causing the discoloration. It probably isn't worth the expense however to put filters on the incoming water line or feeder lines so you would still see discoloration and eventually some sedimentation in your PEX lines.

Based on living in a few houses with high iron, iron sediment was my first take as well. well.

(I have some friends with high iron that is clear at tap temperature, but if boiled will turn orange, I wonder if it could happen at a lower temperature, the OP did note warm water was involved).

In every case we had iron issues we have add a whole house water filter (and sometimes, if a water softener was already present, the salts formulated for rust).

[Mgmny]

I would guess yellowish probably indicates iron which is fairly common. If you've ever cut open a water pipe in an old house and it was house full of sediment, you know what you are seeing now in the PEX.

If you have city water, most municipalities are required by law to release testing results on water quality once a year. You can drop in at your local office and probably request a copy at any time. If you have well water, many states have extension offices where you can get water tests done for a nominal fee. Back when we were on well water, we did this periodically just to ensure the water quality was acceptable and those tests were a large reason why we ended up paying to have water piped into the farm versus well water. City water however is required to meet certain limits so is generally much safer with rare occasions like Flint, Michigan excepted.

For about the last decade, we've always had a refrigerator that dispensed cold water and which has a filter so we get all our drinking water through that. I wouldn't put a lot of faith in those filters other than to remove some minerals for taste purposes. It would probably remove any iron particles or particles that you are now seeing in your pipes causing the discoloration. It probably isn't worth the expense however to put filters on the incoming water line or feeder lines so you would still see discoloration and eventually some sedimentation in your PEX lines.

I tried finding the water reports online, and i wasn't able to find one that included an iron sampling... I might have to do more digging.

Either way, sounds like your rec is to just ignore it? Our fridge has a filter in it too.

[Mgmny]

I would guess yellowish probably indicates iron which is fairly common. If you've ever cut open a water pipe in an old house and it was house full of sediment, you know what you are seeing now in the PEX.

If you have city water, most municipalities are required by law to release testing results on water quality once a year. You can drop in at your local office and probably request a copy at any time. If you have well water, many states have extension offices where you can get water tests done for a nominal fee. Back when we were on well water, we did this periodically just to ensure the water quality was acceptable and those tests were a large reason why we ended up paying to have water piped into the farm versus well water. City water however is required to meet certain limits so is generally much safer with rare occasions like Flint, Michigan excepted.

For about the last decade, we've always had a refrigerator that dispensed cold water and which has a filter so we get all our drinking water through that. I wouldn't put a lot of faith in those filters other than to remove some minerals for taste purposes. It would probably remove any iron particles or particles that you are now seeing in your pipes causing the discoloration. It probably isn't worth the expense however to put filters on the incoming water line or feeder lines so you would still see discoloration and eventually some sedimentation in your PEX lines.

Based on living in a few houses with high iron, iron sediment was my first take as well. well.

(I have some friends with high iron that is clear at tap temperature, but if boiled will turn orange, I wonder if it could happen at a lower temperature, the OP did note warm water was involved).

In every case we had iron issues we have add a whole house water filter (and sometimes, if a water softener was already present, the salts formulated for rust).

Did you use carbon or RO filtering? I have a water softener, but i usually just buy the cheap $4.75 bag of salt from Aldi. I think the iron stuff could be double that price...? But, if paying $5 amonth more for something that solves the issue, that would be better than dropping a few grand on a whole house filter.

That said, I live in an area where 3M dumped a bunch of forever chemicals. The city claims our water is within EPA guidelines, but trace amounts are still found, so that alone might sway me to get a whole house filter... not sure yet.

[lthenderson]

Iron is a mineral your body needs so it isn't dangerous in low quantities but can be toxic in high quantities. But I don't think it is physically possible to drink enough water to get to the toxic level. Iron is easy to remove using filter media and the filter in your refrigerator for drinking water should be doing an adequate job. Although a water softener system can remove small amounts of copper, it won't remove it all.

Personally if I was in your shoes, I would just continue to drink the water out of the fridge filtered tap or use one of those carbon filter pitchers that you can fill from the sink tap. I would keep an eye out on the test results that your city produces and if something is at a high level that concerns you, investigate into a whole house filtration system. I had one in a previous house that had been installed by a previous owner. It worked okay (at least as far as I know) but the filters were sort of spendy. I think they cost about $100 each and it took two filters per change. I think I probably changed them a couple times a year so around $400 per year in maintenance costs. Taste wise, there wasn't any difference over the fridge filter we use now that costs about $15 and gets changed two times a year.

[Sanitary Stache]

Paper filters will remove some particulate iron.  If the iron is soluable it needs to be oxidized before it can be removed, there are filtration units that look kind of like water softener tanks (fiberglass) that use a carbon media which will also oxidize and remove iron. Water with soluble iron will look clear until the iron is oxidized either by sitting for a while or potentially this was what was going on with the poster whos friend's water turned reddish after boiling.  Soluable iron will also contribute to a slime that will clog up your water softenerm, you don't want this to happen.  You can check for soluable iron by filling a styrafoam cup and letting it sit over night, if the water turns a reddish color then you have soluable iron and you should at least be buying the iron out salt for your softener (to prevent the softener media from getting clogged with iron bacteria and needed to be replaced, essentially the cost of a new softener) and maybe looking at getting an oxidizing filter for iron removal.

Are these pipes that are changing color hot water or cold water?

I would not worry about the color change.

You should know what the levels of PFAS are in your water.  And then compare that to the levels of PFAS on every surface in and around your house and car, on your clothes, and in your blood.  Levels in water are usually regulated to a "lifetime" exposure and so are much lower than what you are going to find surrounding you in the non water environment.  Decide if a granular activated carbon treatment system, and the service contract it comes with, is worth it.  I would do that with only very high concentrations of PFAS chemicals, several orders of magnitute higher than what most regulations allow.  You should ask either your water department or the State drinkingwater agency (somtimes with Envronmental Protection and sometimes with Department of Health depending on your State).  Your state agency is legally obligated to provide you with the data, be specific about what test results you want though becuase they have a lot of data.  Request in writing.

If the discolored PEX bothers you, the cheapest and best option would be to replace it with blue (or red for hot water) colored PEX.  The clear stuff will probably discolor just from UV exposure. 

It is possible the discoloration is from a bioflim that your water utility is trying to grow in their pipes to protect you from lead corrosion.  It is also possible the discoloration is from reaction with free chlorine your water system is providing you with to protect you from deadly cholera and legionella. 

[Mgmny]

Paper filters will remove some particulate iron.  If the iron is soluable it needs to be oxidized before it can be removed, there are filtration units that look kind of like water softener tanks (fiberglass) that use a carbon media which will also oxidize and remove iron. Water with soluble iron will look clear until the iron is oxidized either by sitting for a while or potentially this was what was going on with the poster whos friend's water turned reddish after boiling.  Soluable iron will also contribute to a slime that will clog up your water softenerm, you don't want this to happen.  You can check for soluable iron by filling a styrafoam cup and letting it sit over night, if the water turns a reddish color then you have soluable iron and you should at least be buying the iron out salt for your softener (to prevent the softener media from getting clogged with iron bacteria and needed to be replaced, essentially the cost of a new softener) and maybe looking at getting an oxidizing filter for iron removal.

Are these pipes that are changing color hot water or cold water?

I would not worry about the color change.

You should know what the levels of PFAS are in your water.  And then compare that to the levels of PFAS on every surface in and around your house and car, on your clothes, and in your blood.  Levels in water are usually regulated to a "lifetime" exposure and so are much lower than what you are going to find surrounding you in the non water environment.  Decide if a granular activated carbon treatment system, and the service contract it comes with, is worth it.  I would do that with only very high concentrations of PFAS chemicals, several orders of magnitute higher than what most regulations allow.  You should ask either your water department or the State drinkingwater agency (somtimes with Envronmental Protection and sometimes with Department of Health depending on your State).  Your state agency is legally obligated to provide you with the data, be specific about what test results you want though becuase they have a lot of data.  Request in writing.

If the discolored PEX bothers you, the cheapest and best option would be to replace it with blue (or red for hot water) colored PEX.  The clear stuff will probably discolor just from UV exposure. 

It is possible the discoloration is from a bioflim that your water utility is trying to grow in their pipes to protect you from lead corrosion.  It is also possible the discoloration is from reaction with free chlorine your water system is providing you with to protect you from deadly cholera and legionella.

The pex is right after my water heater, so warm.

I'll add water to a white cup and see if it oxidizes. I've never head of this before, so it will be an interesting experiment!

All I'm able to find online is the "consumer confidence" report which doesn't link any PFAS or Iron info. I feel like i saw a report at one time with all the info on it, but i can't seem to find it! I'll reach out to the state to find it.

Thanks for all the useful info.

[Mgmny]

Iron is a mineral your body needs so it isn't dangerous in low quantities but can be toxic in high quantities. But I don't think it is physically possible to drink enough water to get to the toxic level. Iron is easy to remove using filter media and the filter in your refrigerator for drinking water should be doing an adequate job. Although a water softener system can remove small amounts of copper, it won't remove it all.

Personally if I was in your shoes, I would just continue to drink the water out of the fridge filtered tap or use one of those carbon filter pitchers that you can fill from the sink tap. I would keep an eye out on the test results that your city produces and if something is at a high level that concerns you, investigate into a whole house filtration system. I had one in a previous house that had been installed by a previous owner. It worked okay (at least as far as I know) but the filters were sort of spendy. I think they cost about $100 each and it took two filters per change. I think I probably changed them a couple times a year so around $400 per year in maintenance costs. Taste wise, there wasn't any difference over the fridge filter we use now that costs about $15 and gets changed two times a year.

OK! I was just worried that it was an indication of something more sinister. Iron doesn't seem to be a huge problem.